Ironman Training Review: February, 2014

Last month I ended my review of my January Ironamn training by noting that I can't wait for the weather to break. Well, here in Eastern PA we are still waiting for something that resembles nice weather. Turns out,  as bad a weather month as January turned out to be, February was worse. We had snow, and more snow, and then a bit of ice in the middle of more snow. The Queen had half the month off from teaching!!! It hasn't been the worst winter season, but it is darn close. Fortunately the temperature has been cold enough to keep the snow around ...

Last I looked, nobody ever moved a race date because of crappy training weather in the months leading up to the race. Thus, we carry on ... albeit with more inside training than I would like. Not always the most fun, but sometimes you do the workout because you have to, not because you really want to. I would much rather suck it up inside in February than suffer in June because I let the weather be an excuse to blow off workouts.

We've had more than our fair share of snow this year.

February training was designed to be a continuation of what I was doing in January with slightly more volume. On the bike, build strength; in the pool, speed and technique. The run, due to my knee issues, the plan was to simply run and not do damage.

Strength Training: February was a continuation of January with 2x/week of hitting the weights. Still doing basic exercises my overall strength is good as we enter March. On my to major lifts - squats and deadlifts - I ended the month stronger than I entered it. There was much core work done as well as specific training to address some imbalances that are contributing to the knee problems. The focus starting in March will change with less overall emphasis on basic strength training and more on core as well as swim/bike/run.

Swim: Weekly yardage was up a bit to an average of approx. 9,000 over three swims per week. I tested early in month (400Y/200Y) swimming both timed intervals faster than January and surprisingly faster than expected. Since the beginning of the year I have been working on my threshold using the protocol from Swim Sense. You can find the deets here. I have worked my way down to where my CSS pace is 1:21/100Y. For my main set each week I have mainly stuck with 8-10x200 on 20 sec rest. Sounds easy enough, right? Don't bet on it.

First time in 3 years I've had to bust
out the really cold weather gear.

Bike: The weather in February was more of the same. And by more, I mean more snow, more rutty roads, more brutally cold days, and more time spent on a trainer than I would like. The HIIT sessions during the week are getting me strong, but workouts are relatively short in duration. Fortunately the weather on weekends was just good enough so I could get outside and ride on 3 of the 4 weekends. All things considered, I'll take it. I enter March feeling good about my strength but knowing I need to start getting in some longer, endurance rides soon.

Run: January run training was a bit of a disaster due to injury. Still not where I would like to be, I have been able to start running again, working to slowly build mileage in a sane way. I was scheduled to race the Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon on February 16, but 18 inches of snow cancelled the trip. It was a bummer, but totally out of my control. Instead, I spent some quality time with my snow blower (one way to get outside) and treadmill ... something I have used more this year than ever before. Between the snow and the poor road conditions, I was much better off inside than I would have been on sketchy roads.

The good news is I have been able to run. Overall run mileage is still down, but I have been able to run, even getting in two short transition runs. Long runs have been around 12 miles.The bad news is there is still some pain and all my runs are just running - no intervals or hill repeats, or tempo runs. I am choosing to be positive about the situation, believing it will get resolved and the lower run volume early in the year will benefit me come race day.

Overall: Total training volume was up a little from January. I feel great in the water, strong on the bike, and happy to be able to run. Fitness is up, but bike endurance is a bit behind where I would like it to be.

While the first two months of the year were designed to build strength, March is a month of transition from base-type training to race specific prep. At the start of the month I am just 16 weeks away from IMCDA. Total volume will start to increase in all three disciplines. In the pool this means my endurance sets will be longer as will overall volume. On the bike I will be outside as much as possible. Fortunately, the clocks change on 3/8 giving us light in the evenings. Hopefully this allows me to get outside a few days each week. On the weekends, I'll be outside getting in the miles if at all possible. If the weather doesn't cooperate, longer trainer rides will have to happen. And assuming my knee is ok (I go back to see Doc on Friday 3/7) mileage will slowly grow this month.



Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon


Related Posts:

Ironman Training Review: January, 2014

2014 - The Year for Ironman Racing